Saturday, May 30, 2015

Anne-Marie, Getting her mojo going and the 'Ugly Duckling Project'

I’ve been really struggling to get the mojo flowing these
last few weeks so just to get myself back into creativity mode I decided to
just grab some stuff that has been floating around on my scrap table, annoying
me, for weeks and just stick it down. I actually really like how this LO turned
out in the end. Most of this page is made up of is the negative space from a
sheet of KaiserCraft stickers. I love the contrast of black against bright
colour so I simply inked my Your Creative Wings chippy pieces and stuck them
on. Teamed with a simple black and white portrait photo I really like the
impact this LO makes.

For my next LO I wanted to show how you can use pocket page
journal cards on a traditional 12x12 style page. I started with the gorgeous
Unconditional Love word piece. I just adore mixed fonts like this for big
impact headings... and I found the perfect photo to go with it too. I inked my
YCW chippy with VersaColor Pinecone. I
only pressed lightly on the words to get a slightly mottled effect. I chose
Pinecone because it matched well with the brown tone in the journal cards from
KaiserCraft’s Captured Moments Say Cheese Collection. Then I added some washi
tape and buttons to finish it off. This is often my go to when I’m in a
creative rut too. A quick, simple and easy way to a page done and get the
creativity flowing too.

I am calling this my “ugling duckling” project. How many hideous, old and
downright dorky scrap supplies do you have lurking about in boxes and
cupboards? Me? I have HEAPS but for some weird reason I just cannot bear to
throw them out. So I was sitting staring
at all my jars of embellishments and saw these butt-ugly flowers mocking me and
then inspiration hit. I just got my hands on some of Tim Holtz’s Distress Spray
Stains so I was excited to be getting my hands messy again.

First I glued my flowers down to a 12x12 piece
of grey chipboard with gel medium (any glue will work just as well) and then I
mixed gesso with some water in a spray bottle... I recommend doing this
outside... I have white spray everywhere!!! I covered the flowers and chipboard
quite liberally with the spray and left it to dry in the sun. My sheet of
chipboard became a bit warped but I finished off the drying with my heat gun alternating
between back and front to try to flatten it. It worked a bit but then I also
squashed it under some heavy books to flatten it as much as I could. It’s still
a bit bumpy but hey, as Tim Holtz himself says “embrace imperfection”! ;)

Next I started with my lightest spray, mustard seed,
concentrating mainly over the flowers I covered them all in this yellow stain.
Then I used the spiced marmalade in the centre and finally the fired brick in
the top left. I lifted my page to let the excess dribble down the page too.

I covered my YCW chippy pieces in black ink and heat
embossed them. Once again I ended up with a mottled effect, mainly because my
ink was a bit dry and didn’t pick up very much of the black embossing powder
but I really like how it turned out. Again, the bold black against the vibrant colour
really packs a visual punch.